Magdeburg (mäk`dəb
rkh), city (1994 pop. 270,546), capital of Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, on the Elbe River. It is a large inland port, an industrial center, and a rail and road junction. Manufactures include metal products, textiles, and chemicals. The city is a food processing center, primarily in sugar refining and flour milling. There are lignite and potash mines nearby. Known in 805, Magdeburg became, under Emperor Otto I, an outpost for the colonization of the Wendish territories. In 968 it was made an archiepiscopal see. The archbishops of Magdeburg ruled a large territory as princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The city of Magdeburg obtained from them (13th cent.) a charter that was the model for hundreds of medieval town charters in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Poland. Under this Magdeburg Law a town governed itself through an elected council, had its own courts of justice, and was exempt from all duties except the payment of rent to the prince of the land. Magdeburg prospered and became one of the chief members of the Hanseatic League. It accepted (1524) the Reformation, joined (1531) the Schmalkaldic League Schmalkaldic League (shmälkäl`dĭk), alliance formed in 1531 at Schmalkalden by Protestant princes and delegates of free cities.
..... Click the link for more information. , and continued its resistance against Emperor Charles V until its fall (1551) to Maurice of Saxony. The archbishops were converted to Protestantism, and the family, members of the house of Brandenburg, ruled the archbishopric as administrators. The Magdeburg Centuries, the first comprehensive history of Protestantism, was edited there in the late 16th cent. During the Thirty Years War the imperial forces laid siege to Magdeburg in 1630. On May 20, 1631, the imperial troops under Tilly and Pappenheim stormed the city and put the garrison to the sword. Fires mysteriously broke out in various quarters, and by the following day virtually the entire city had burned down. Roughly 25,000 persons (about 85% of the city's population) perished in the conflagration and the sacking. The sack of Magdeburg produced an immense impression and caused the Protestant princes to conclude a closer alliance. The city was rebuilt and its trade revived after the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which transferred both the city and the archbishopric (which was secularized and made a duchy) to the electorate of Brandenburg. From the late 17th cent. Magdeburg was an important Prussian fortress. The city was severely damaged in World War II. Historic landmarks of Magdeburg include an 11th-century Romanesque church and the 13th-century cathedral. The city is the birthplace of Otto von Guericke (1602–86), the physicist and inventor of the Magdeburg hemispheres (which demonstrate air pressure); the composer G. P. Telemann (1681–1767); and Baron von Steuben (1730–94), the Prussian general who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
City (pop., 2002 est.: 229,755), capital of Saxony-Anhalt state, east-central Germany. Located on the Elbe River, it was a trading settlement as early as the 9th century, and by the 13th century it was a leading member of the Hanseatic League. It embraced the Reformation in 1524 and was governed by Protestant titular archbishops. In 1631, during the Thirty Years' War, it was burned and sacked. Captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars, it soon passed to the Prussians, and in 1815 it became the capital of the province of Saxony. It was heavily bombed during World War II. One of Germany's most important inland ports, it is a railroad junction. The composer Georg Philipp Telemann was born there.
Magdeburg
rkh), city (1994 pop. 270,546), capital of Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, on the Elbe River. It is a large inland port, an industrial center, and a rail and road junction. Manufactures include metal products, textiles, and chemicals. The city is a food processing center, primarily in sugar refining and flour milling. There are lignite and potash mines nearby. Known in 805, Magdeburg became, under Emperor Otto I, an outpost for the colonization of the Wendish territories. In 968 it was made an archiepiscopal see. The archbishops of Magdeburg ruled a large territory as princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The city of Magdeburg obtained from them (13th cent.) a charter that was the model for hundreds of medieval town charters in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Poland. Under this Magdeburg Law a town governed itself through an elected council, had its own courts of justice, and was exempt from all duties except the payment of rent to the prince of the land. Magdeburg prospered and became one of the chief members of the Hanseatic League. It accepted (1524) the Reformation, joined (1531) the Schmalkaldic League Schmalkaldic League (shmälkäl`dĭk), alliance formed in 1531 at Schmalkalden by Protestant princes and delegates of free cities...... Click the link for more information. , and continued its resistance against Emperor Charles V until its fall (1551) to Maurice of Saxony. The archbishops were converted to Protestantism, and the family, members of the house of Brandenburg, ruled the archbishopric as administrators. The Magdeburg Centuries, the first comprehensive history of Protestantism, was edited there in the late 16th cent. During the Thirty Years War the imperial forces laid siege to Magdeburg in 1630. On May 20, 1631, the imperial troops under Tilly and Pappenheim stormed the city and put the garrison to the sword. Fires mysteriously broke out in various quarters, and by the following day virtually the entire city had burned down. Roughly 25,000 persons (about 85% of the city's population) perished in the conflagration and the sacking. The sack of Magdeburg produced an immense impression and caused the Protestant princes to conclude a closer alliance. The city was rebuilt and its trade revived after the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which transferred both the city and the archbishopric (which was secularized and made a duchy) to the electorate of Brandenburg. From the late 17th cent. Magdeburg was an important Prussian fortress. The city was severely damaged in World War II. Historic landmarks of Magdeburg include an 11th-century Romanesque church and the 13th-century cathedral. The city is the birthplace of Otto von Guericke (1602–86), the physicist and inventor of the Magdeburg hemispheres (which demonstrate air pressure); the composer G. P. Telemann (1681–1767); and Baron von Steuben (1730–94), the Prussian general who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Magdeburg
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The cathedral at Magdeburg, Germany.
(credit: W. Krammisch/Bruce Coleman Inc.)
Magdeburg
an industrial city and port in central Germany, on the River Elbe, capital of Saxony-Anhalt: a leading member of the Hanseatic League, whose local laws, the Magdeburg Laws were adopted by many European cities. Pop.: 227 535 (2003 est.)
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